Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week 6 - Kids Week

Did you watch last night’s episode?  This week it was all about children’s wear and the seven remaining contestants were tasked with creating garments on a small scale for kids under 10 years old.  This is a regular theme on all of the GBSB series but this time they had the extra challenge of integrating adaptive clothing elements to highlight the ways that fashion can help to accommodate medical needs and support accessibility.  Patrick and Esmee were joined by guest judge, Victoria Jenkins, Founder of Unhidden – an adaptive fashion brand.

www.unhiddenclothing.com

This episode reminded me a lot of the children's clothes I used to make at the start of Dress By Amy - like the red jacket above. There is something really lovely about sewing children's clothes - by their nature they are small, so quick to make and you can really go to town on the trims and embellishments in a way that you probably wouldn't for adult wear.

Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week 6 – Pattern Challenge

The pattern challenge this time was a pair of dungarees for children.  A sewing challenge in itself within four hours with top stitching, patch pockets, facings and more, but they also had to include adaptive elements including elastic straps and snap fastenings. 

I have actually made children’s dungarees before but I definitely took more than four hours, so as usual, the contestants did really well.  Here is the pattern that I used a few years back in case you are looking for one. The Lil Critters Reversible Romper Pattern from Puperita Patterns on Etsy.   It includes snap fastenings on the inside leg for easy access to change nappies or for other accessibility needs.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/4295061114/lil-critters-reversible-romper-pattern?ref=shop_home_active_3&pro=1&dd=1&logging_key=0a694877be8b49a7318ed4b6606faf65e78707a2%3A4295061114

Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week 6 - Transformation challenge

In the transformation challenge, everyone had to turn some old maternity clothes into a kids playwear outfit.  My favourite was Orla’s little stripey dress with the giraffe appliquéd on the front – such a cute and inventive use of the fabric.

Great British Sewing Bee 2025 – Week 6 – Made to Measure

In the final challenge of this week, the Made to Measure, the contestants were asked to create an outfit for a child which represented what they wanted to do as a career when they grew up.  I thought this was a lovely idea and allowed each of them to show some of their selves in their projects, whilst also showcasing their sewing skills. 

Orla’s Bee Keeper outfit was amazing.  Stuart wanted to be a polar explorer.  I loved Yasmin ‘s Politician outfit with her red rosette on the little blue blazer.  Caz was a fashion designer which was a particular favourite of the judges and Gaynor’s was a ballerina.  I did feel for Gaynor as you could tell that she felt she hadn’t been as inventive as some of the others had but I thought her outfit was really well executed and fitted her model perfectly.

Again it was sad that someone had to go home but that’s inevitable and I’ll leave you to watch the full episode to find out who!